The Mercian Regimental Association
The four antecedent Regimental Associations which make up The Mercian Regiment Association seem to be thriving although all Branches are seeking to increase their membership. Readers, serving or retired, soldier or officer, regular, territorial or cadet adult, are encouraged to find and join their local Branch no matter where your antecedent regimental affinity lies. It would be nice to see more Branch Notes here: the more interesting Branch Secretaries can make their notes, the more likely you are to attract members. Members of other Associations do like to know what you do and this is the only place where you can display your wares to the whole regiment.
The 22nd (Cheshire)
by Graham Ball We have a had a busy time, starting with our trip to the East Cheshire Reunion at the end of October; it is always a good night and is a great chance to see old pals from all corners of the CRA: thanks to Stockport Branch for laying it on. This invigorated us for the Poppy Appeal and Remembrance Parade, firstly with branch members assisting the local Mercian Regiment-badged ACF with their Poppy Appeal collection day and, finally, the Remembrance Parade and Service at Port Sunlight. Following the service at Christchurch, with the ACF and Port Sunlight Village Trust, we held a short service at the Vision Museum where the silver statuette to the 13th Service Battalion is displayed. Later in the month, some members joined the RASC/RCT Association for a weekend away in Llandudno and a party of 30 members from Birkenhead and Ellesmere Port journeyed to Birmingham to see the International Military Tattoo.
We did not get a good start to 2010: our AGM had to be postponed because of the atrocious weather but, when it did finally happen, all current branch officials were re-elected for a further period of duty. Your correspondent was particularly pleased to go to the AGM and Meeanee Supper in Chester because he won one of the prizes on the 22 Club Draw; oh yes, the meeting was interesting and the food, drink and company were excellent too.
In March, a number of us accepted an invitation from the Senior Service to visit HMS Albion which was berthed in Liverpool - a very interesting day out. As spring
The Mercian Eagle
Regimental Association Birkenhead
progressed, we dusted off our bowls and started training in readiness for the annual games against Stockport; sadly, we didn’t train hard enough and were soundly beaten at the first game in June (never mind, there is always the second leg…). We were on Funeral Duty quite often in the summer: friends of over 50 years, John Wilkes, Mick Bird and Eric Longson, all passed away and we also attended the funerals of Cpl Terry Webster and LCpl Alan Cochran, two of our brave 1 MERCIAN soldiers.
Chester
by John Fairbanks The Branch Annual Dinner took place in the Regimental Club on 10th October when, following a Reception in The Cheshire Military Museum, 60 members sat down to a splendid feast. A quiet November followed and then we got on to our last major function of 2009, the Christmas Draw. The festivities began with members being offered a glass or two of mulled wine; the Irreverent Fairbanks led a festival of Christmas Carols accompanied by live music from the Eddie Pickering Trio and then the Draw got under way: as usual, Henry Dodds cleaned up on the prizes and had to hire a pantechnicon to take them home.
The Branch AGM held in January saw a small change on the committee. Andre Kujawinski stood down as Chairman and Mitch Elliott, a Malaya veteran, was elected in his place. The remainder of the committee had their sentences increased by a year. It has been a sad summer; firstly, Tom Spark, an enthusiastic stalwart of the Branch,
passed away on 12th April and, on 22nd May, shortly after their 60th Wedding Anniversary, Bill Helliwell’s wife, Jean, died following a long and bravely borne illness. In addition, Branch members have attended the many funerals of our fallen comrades from 1 MERCIAN. Socially, we have had a quiet time and had to cancel our Father’s Day lunch because of a lack of interest but we did have a good night at our annual Summer Dinner in Fox Barracks.
Ellesmere Port
by Gordon Kipps Along with many others, we sent a representation to the East Cheshire Reunion at Stockport. I was very impressed at the dignity in the way the evening was presented: obviously, a lot of thought had gone into the organising of it and Stockport Branch are to be congratulated on a very successful and enjoyable night.
A strong turnout of members took part in the Remembrance Sunday Service. This was our only event of the month because we were saving our strength for the Christmas festivities which started in earnest with our Branch Dinner where, as well as a sumptuous festive spread, we were well entertained by vocalist Jimmy Grace. Thanks to Brenda and the ladies for setting up the tables.
The New Year started with our AGM and a couple of surprises! George Statham stepped down as Secretary and, in the absence of any other nominations, Gordon Kipps agreed to take over the position. Chairman John (Tiny) Davies also informed us that he needed
October 2010 139
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164